Often it is a requirement that a spray device provides a substantially evenly distributed spray over a designated area. One such example is a spray device employed to distribute water in a garden or the like. One particular application where this is important, is the use of mini-spray devices which are typically directly tapped or inserted into an irrigation hose and provide a spray pattern about the mini-spray device.
One such example of a prior art spray device is shown in FIG. 1, which depicts a spray device 10 having a water outlet 20 that includes a nozzle 21 that directs a jet or stream of water upwardly to the central region 31 of a spray head 30 mounted underneath cross member 60 which in turn is supported by a pair of opposed frame members 50. As the stream of water makes contact with the central region 31 of spray head 30, it is directed outwards by a plurality of radial channels 32 towards the serrated periphery 31 of the spray head to spray an area located circumferentially about the spray device 10.
A common drawback of these and other similar types of spray devices is that the water is not uniformly or evenly distributed about the area surrounding the spray device. Typically, the area covered or the spray pattern of the spray device will be ring or donut shaped with areas closer to the spray device receiving little or no water. Even within the donut shaped area that receives an adequate amount of water, the spray will often not be evenly distributed. Clearly, this leads to the obvious disadvantage that plants located in areas near to the spray device will not receive adequate watering and suffer as a result. It is also common practice to utilise miniature spray devices to water individual plants or trees with the emitter device located adjacent the trunk of the plant or tree. In this application, the area around the trunk is not watered evenly with only a small percentage of the roots receiving water.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a spray device capable of providing an evenly distributed spray over a designated area.